A digital map is generally stored in a map database as a set of raw data corresponding to millions of streets and intersections and other map features to be displayed as part of a map. Generally speaking, map features may include, for example, individual roads, text labels (e.g., map labels or street labels), areas, text boxes, buildings, points of interest markers, terrain features, bike paths, etc. The raw map data may be configured to prioritize map features primarily based on navigation. For example, existing maps may emphasize highways over streets, streets over alleys, and roads, in general, over other features of the map. In other words, existing map systems may render map features so that the displayed map most efficiently conveys to a map user how to navigate from an origin to a known destination.
However, the existing methods of displaying map features based on navigation may be less useful to a casual visitor of a city or a neighborhood, where the visitor does not have a particular destination in mind and the visitor may be interested in learning about points of interests or neighborhoods of interest.